F1 News
Domenicali talks about future plans for F1: more sprint racing and MotoGP?
- Sandy van Wijngaarden
Ahead of the Italian Grand Prix, Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali gave a wide-ranging interview in which he discussed the future of the premier class. For instance, he talks about moving away from the Eurocentric and confirms the idea of organising a sprint race for rookies.
Speaking to La Repubblica, Domenicali was asked what could still help Formula 1 as a sport. "A leading Ferrari is certainly a very important factor,'' he replied. But in these years of Verstappen's dominance, interest in F1 is far from waning.''
Domenicali has several plans for Formula 1
According to the Italian, the F1 calendar is in need of a new perspective. "More and more countries want a Grand Prix. We are also in talks with Africa, with Rwanda. We used to be Eurocentric. Now Europe represents about a third of the world championship. We will stay at 24 Grands Prix."
So the amount of races will remain the same, but there are other formats Domenicali wants to experiment with. "From next year there will be room for more sprint races and we are discussing whether it is possible to do it like MotoGP in the future, with all sprint races."
The CEO cannot yet answer whether MotoGP will also start running on the same weekend as Formula 1. "We are waiting for the European antitrust ruling on the transaction at the end of the year."
There had been brief talk of a special sprint race for young drivers at the end of the season and Domenicali confirmed that there are plans for this. "In Abu Dhabi during testing we might do a sprint for the youngsters. We are pushing so many limits and there are so many young people following us. So much so that we have started doing merchandising for children and so many women. Such strong growth was not obvious, especially after Covid that could have ended the world championship," Domenicali said.
This article has been written in collaboration with Matt Gretton
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17 September 2024
